Post Punk Kitchen Forum

hi y'all.

last night hubby & I watched 'food inc' on DVD and we still have the DVD of 'forks over knives' to watch
i wonder if there are other documentaries like this i should try to see if my local indie video store has?

same goes for books. i remember back in college i read john robbin's diet for a new america, silent spring by rachael carlson (forgive me if i have her name misspelled) and diet for a new planet by francis moore lappe. i think i also read animal liberation by peter singer. alas, i don't have these books anymore, but am wondering if any of y'all have any good books to suggest for me to read.

thanks!

There's a ton of literature out there, but these are probably my top three.

Vegan Freak by Bob & Jenna Torres
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Mad Cowboy by Howard Lyman

Two of my favorites are Farm Sanctuary and Thanking the Monkey. There are so many good books though I'm sure I'll be back to post more suggestions.

Vegan for Life

Other than cookbooks, I really don't read vegan/animal rights books.

Earthlings

Films: I think Vegucated is good and really relatable if you're just making the transition. Meat the Truth addresses a lot of the environmental issues around meat.

Books: I'll second Eating Animals. Not sure how long ago you read it, but Animal Liberation might be worth a second glance. Creep mentioned Vegan Freak, and I know a lot of people really like it, but I was really turned off by the tone of the book. It scared me off a bit when I was first trying to find my way, which was kind of the opposite of what I had hoped to get out of it. So I guess I'd say, check it out, but proceed with caution?

Oh, also, Vegan for Life seconded!

Do not watch Earthlings.

thanks everyone for the suggestions!

I forgot to say that I did buy Vegan for Life and have read it! I do plan on re-reading it again soon because I think I might start keeping a food diary of sorts for a couple of weeks so I can make sure I'm getting an adequate intake of vitamins, minerals, proteins, etc.....

I'm scared to watch earthlings.

You should be. I watched I after about a year of being vegan. It is just something that really takes a strong stomach. I am fairly non-squeamish but it is pretty horrid.

WHOA! must be pretty intense. I watched some of the PETA videos online and was crying and nearly threw up.

Same here. I figure if I'm already not eating animals, there's really no reason to traumatize myself.

I also really liked the Farm Sanctuary book and the movie Vegucated. There are several options for watching Vegucated online if you go to their website. They also do a ton of screenings around the country.

I was terrified to watch Earthlings for a long time, then I eventually watched it with an ex-girlfriend (when she was still my girlfriend) because I totally wanted her to go vegan, obviously, and...it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be? I guess because I knew most of the information in it so it wasn't at all shocking. She freaked out though, which was my intention.

"Resurrect Dead" and "Helvetica." Not actually food-related, but interesting, and it's good to broaden one's horizons in more than one direction. Plus they're unlikely to cause any particular trauma.

Seriously, if you've already decided to go vegan, why do you, personally, need to watch more documentaries about it? You know what you're doing and you have your own reasons. Or are you trying to build up arguments for the inevitable confused conversations with people? It seems like at this point you might as well load up on cookbooks and get to cookin'.

I wasn't really bothered by the tone of Vegan Freak, but it did lead me to their forums (before I found the PPK) and that was a huge turn-off.

I have never seen Meet Your Meat or Earthlings, or any of those type videos. I don't feel like I need to scar myself when I'm already committed to veganism. Eating Animals was a good read, and I enjoyed Howard Lyman's books.

Haven't read this one myself, but there is a new book out geared towards new vegans called Main Street Vegan: http://www.amazon.com/Main-Street-Vegan-Healthfully-Compassionately/dp/1585429333 Seems to be getting good reviews.

I am scared to watch Earthlings too. I wanna throw up just thinking about what goes on.

When I first thought about becoming vegan I read The Kind Diet. It was simple and to the point which I liked. I then tried to read Skinny bisque and I was turned off by it. It seemed more mean than encouraging to me. But I know a lot of people who liked it.

After watching Forks Over Knives I would really like ot read The China Study.

Bisque, LOL! I'm new and finding the censor words is awesome :D

oh I have loaded up on cookbooks and gotten to cookin' ;) my hubby is along for the vegan ride since I've taken over the cooking duties ;) We both agree that we obviously eat healthier now, but we also both agree that everything tastes better and our meals our more exciting -- probably since I'm in the newbie phase where I'm trying lots of new recipes and don't have a standard set of vegan recipes that I continually cycle.....Although we definitely do have some favorites that I've made a few times already......

I'm not sure why I feel I need to watch more documentaries about it. I've still only seen Food Inc and Forks over Knives. I think just so I can be a bit more informed but I suppose also I'm trying to be a bit sneaky and get my hubby to watch them with me, and he has, both left a big impression on him and gave him things to think about.

And P.S. Ack, I just looked up both movies and thank you for the 'resurrect dead' suggestion. I swooned for the entire 4 book Odyssey series by Arthur C Clarke, so I'll definitely check for this DVD title at my indie rental store!

I make myself watch Earthlings about once a year because it's very well made.... and it's horrifying. I know that I'll never purposefully turn my back on veganism.

Granted, I'm an idiot and I mess up some times. But that's just being human. Nobody is perfect including vegans. Forgive yourself, and move on.

vegucated is online on youtube for free right now:

thanks for the link! definitely will make to view this soon!

I like Theo Colborn et al's "Our Stolen Future." It's not vegan specifically, and it's a little outdated at this point, but if you want motivation to eat low on the food chain without any gruesomeness, it'll do.

Not a book, but if you ever have the opportunity to see Rae Sikora speak, do it - she's so calming and happy!

Umm.. Beyond that for books Imma go with "Matterhorn" and "All The King's Men," which have nothing whatsoever to do with veganism. Just nothing at all. But everyone should read them. For documentaries check out "Hot Coffee" and "Pink Ribbons, Inc." Ohhh and "Blue Vinyl." LOVE Blue Vinyl.

I just did a blog post about my top vegan/AR documentaries. I also plan on doing one for books and cookbooks. Good luck!